Integrated Assessment of Global Catastrophic Risk and AI

28 June 2017, 16:00
- 17:30

Hosted by the Centre for the Study of Existential Risk, this talk presents the Global Catastrophic Risk Institute’s (GCRI’s) flagship integrated assessment project, with emphasis on risk from artificial intelligence (AI). GCRI defines global catastrophic risk (GCR) as the risk of events large enough to significantly harm or even destroy human civilization at the global scale. Of particular interest are global catastrophes that could affect the long-term trajectory of human civilization.

The GCRI integrated assessment combines quantitative risk and decision analysis with qualitative reasoning in a framework for the concurrent study of all the GCRs. The integrated assessment aims to assess the total risk, which aspects of the risks are most worrisome, and which are the best ways of reducing the risk. It also includes engagement with key stakeholders who are in a position to reduce the risk. This talk will share detail on the artificial intelligence component as an illustrative example. New research on AI will be presented, including the ASI-PATH risk model and social strategies for AI risk reduction.

About the speaker

Seth Baum leads GCRI’s planning and management and contributes to GCRI’s research. He is also a Research Scientist at the Blue Marble Space Institute of Science and an Affiliate Researcher at the Columbia University Center for Research on Environmental Decisions. He holds a Ph.D. in Geography from Pennsylvania State University (2012), an M.S. in Electrical Engineering from Northeastern University (2006), and B.S. degrees in Optics and Applied Mathematics from the University of Rochester (2003).